Amazon.co.uk Review
Sean Penn and Benecio Del Toro, two of the most gripping actors around, play wildly different men linked through a grieving woman (Naomi Watts) in 21 Grams. Del Toro delves deep into the role of an ex-con turned born-again Christian, a deeply conflicted man struggling to set right a terrible accident, even at the expense of his family. Penn captures a cynical, philandering professor in dire need of a heart transplant, which he gets from the death of Watts' husband. 21 Grams slips back in forth in time, creating an intricate emotional web out of the past and the present that slowly draws these three together; the result is remarkably fluid and compelling. The movie overreaches for metaphors towards the end, but that doesn't erase the power of the deeply felt performances. --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews:
Excellent if downbeat.......2008-02-17
I have to admit I haven't been the biggest fan of Sean Penn. Much of the time he appears to overact, or he seems to be pretty well typecast as an unsavoury character. Dead Man Walking and more recently Mystic River are 2 examples where his acting felt either OTT or unconvincing.
But 21 Grams is one of the very few films I've seen of his where his acting skills finally hit all the right notes big time. Because Sean Penn has the central role, and that the subject matter dealt within the film is sensitive as well as emotional, it was vital that he could nail the role of Paul Rivers with conviction to make the whole film succeed, and thankfully this time he comes up trumps and I ended up feeling genuine sympathy towards his character. The whole cast contribute strongly, especially Australian actress Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro.
It's also refreshing to watch a film that can succeed on a downbeat dramatic level or without resorting to excessive violence, car chase sequences and the usual well-worn clichés that so many Hollywood films feel the need to rely on these days. A good storyline and great acting will always win through in appreciation over time if not necessarily the box office.
Great film and recommended for those who don't have a short attention span.
too heavy even for the wife.......2008-01-27
I prefer mindless action films and thrillers but the wife likes to be emotionally involved, so this was her choice. But we both agreed to turn it off after an hour. It is slow, grim and takes a long time to disentangle, and frankly we just were no longer interested in the fate of the characters. As other reviews suggest, this film will be seen in some quarters as a minor masterpiece, but I suspect that the preponderance of good reviews is beause those who switch off do not write reviews.
Compulsive viewing.......2008-01-13
I was absoultely knocked out by this film, the editing was incredible, the patchwork of what was happening, what had happened and what was going to happen kept the intensiveness of the film going from start to end. The activing was believable, hurray to all the actors, and the camera work magnificent. Thank you so much for making this film.
Great Movie.......2007-12-14
I saw this movie when it premiered in Portugal, and I have to say that this is one of the best movies I've seen. With three great actors, Sean Penn, to me one of the best actors of ou time. His performances are always at the top level, and I'm sorry that he only has one oscar. Naomi Watts, the grieving widow. And Benicio Del Toro...
Three lives linked by a tragedy...
Don't want to give more about the storyline, but if you like indepent movies, out of the mainstream... I recommend this film
Somewhat flawed but all together good........2007-12-14
In Alejandro González Iñárritu's debut feature 'Amores Perros', the flaw was that the three stories didn't play out concurrently. As a result the elements of the film you found most interesting weren't found throughout, the characters you were most invested with appeared and disappeared with plenty of story either side of them still to fill.
With '21 Grams' Alejandro González Iñárritu seems to be attempting to combat this by constantly cutting between the three stories, jumping back and forth through different points in the story. As a result we are already shown the ending of many of the stories plots before we've even been given the foundations. For example- When Sean Penn heads out to kill Benicio Del Toro, we are already well aware that he doesn't go through with it - because we've already seen what happens afterwards.
Despite this flaw however the camera work is great, the performances are some of the best of their best respective persons have ever committed, and the story, script and characters are all very believable and deep.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Sean Penn and Benecio Del Toro, two of the most gripping actors around, play wildly different men linked through a grieving woman (Naomi Watts) in 21 Grams. Del Toro delves deep into the role of an ex-con turned born-again Christian, a deeply conflicted man struggling to set right a terrible accident, even at the expense of his family. Penn captures a cynical, philandering professor in dire need of a heart transplant, which he gets from the death of Watts' husband. 21 Grams slips back in forth in time, creating an intricate emotional web out of the past and the present that slowly draws these three together; the result is remarkably fluid and compelling. The movie overreaches for metaphors towards the end, but that doesn't erase the power of the deeply felt performances. --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews:
Excellent if downbeat.......2008-02-17
I have to admit I haven't been the biggest fan of Sean Penn. Much of the time he appears to overact, or he seems to be pretty well typecast as an unsavoury character. Dead Man Walking and more recently Mystic River are 2 examples where his acting felt either OTT or unconvincing.
But 21 Grams is one of the very few films I've seen of his where his acting skills finally hit all the right notes big time. Because Sean Penn has the central role, and that the subject matter dealt within the film is sensitive as well as emotional, it was vital that he could nail the role of Paul Rivers with conviction to make the whole film succeed, and thankfully this time he comes up trumps and I ended up feeling genuine sympathy towards his character. The whole cast contribute strongly, especially Australian actress Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro.
It's also refreshing to watch a film that can succeed on a downbeat dramatic level or without resorting to excessive violence, car chase sequences and the usual well-worn clichés that so many Hollywood films feel the need to rely on these days. A good storyline and great acting will always win through in appreciation over time if not necessarily the box office.
Great film and recommended for those who don't have a short attention span.
too heavy even for the wife.......2008-01-27
I prefer mindless action films and thrillers but the wife likes to be emotionally involved, so this was her choice. But we both agreed to turn it off after an hour. It is slow, grim and takes a long time to disentangle, and frankly we just were no longer interested in the fate of the characters. As other reviews suggest, this film will be seen in some quarters as a minor masterpiece, but I suspect that the preponderance of good reviews is beause those who switch off do not write reviews.
Compulsive viewing.......2008-01-13
I was absoultely knocked out by this film, the editing was incredible, the patchwork of what was happening, what had happened and what was going to happen kept the intensiveness of the film going from start to end. The activing was believable, hurray to all the actors, and the camera work magnificent. Thank you so much for making this film.
Great Movie.......2007-12-14
I saw this movie when it premiered in Portugal, and I have to say that this is one of the best movies I've seen. With three great actors, Sean Penn, to me one of the best actors of ou time. His performances are always at the top level, and I'm sorry that he only has one oscar. Naomi Watts, the grieving widow. And Benicio Del Toro...
Three lives linked by a tragedy...
Don't want to give more about the storyline, but if you like indepent movies, out of the mainstream... I recommend this film
Somewhat flawed but all together good........2007-12-14
In Alejandro González Iñárritu's debut feature 'Amores Perros', the flaw was that the three stories didn't play out concurrently. As a result the elements of the film you found most interesting weren't found throughout, the characters you were most invested with appeared and disappeared with plenty of story either side of them still to fill.
With '21 Grams' Alejandro González Iñárritu seems to be attempting to combat this by constantly cutting between the three stories, jumping back and forth through different points in the story. As a result we are already shown the ending of many of the stories plots before we've even been given the foundations. For example- When Sean Penn heads out to kill Benicio Del Toro, we are already well aware that he doesn't go through with it - because we've already seen what happens afterwards.
Despite this flaw however the camera work is great, the performances are some of the best of their best respective persons have ever committed, and the story, script and characters are all very believable and deep.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Sean Penn and Benecio Del Toro, two of the most gripping actors around, play wildly different men linked through a grieving woman (Naomi Watts) in 21 Grams. Del Toro delves deep into the role of an ex-con turned born-again Christian, a deeply conflicted man struggling to set right a terrible accident, even at the expense of his family. Penn captures a cynical, philandering professor in dire need of a heart transplant, which he gets from the death of Watts' husband. 21 Grams slips back in forth in time, creating an intricate emotional web out of the past and the present that slowly draws these three together; the result is remarkably fluid and compelling. The movie overreaches for metaphors towards the end, but that doesn't erase the power of the deeply felt performances. --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews:
Excellent if downbeat.......2008-02-17
I have to admit I haven't been the biggest fan of Sean Penn. Much of the time he appears to overact, or he seems to be pretty well typecast as an unsavoury character. Dead Man Walking and more recently Mystic River are 2 examples where his acting felt either OTT or unconvincing.
But 21 Grams is one of the very few films I've seen of his where his acting skills finally hit all the right notes big time. Because Sean Penn has the central role, and that the subject matter dealt within the film is sensitive as well as emotional, it was vital that he could nail the role of Paul Rivers with conviction to make the whole film succeed, and thankfully this time he comes up trumps and I ended up feeling genuine sympathy towards his character. The whole cast contribute strongly, especially Australian actress Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro.
It's also refreshing to watch a film that can succeed on a downbeat dramatic level or without resorting to excessive violence, car chase sequences and the usual well-worn clichés that so many Hollywood films feel the need to rely on these days. A good storyline and great acting will always win through in appreciation over time if not necessarily the box office.
Great film and recommended for those who don't have a short attention span.
too heavy even for the wife.......2008-01-27
I prefer mindless action films and thrillers but the wife likes to be emotionally involved, so this was her choice. But we both agreed to turn it off after an hour. It is slow, grim and takes a long time to disentangle, and frankly we just were no longer interested in the fate of the characters. As other reviews suggest, this film will be seen in some quarters as a minor masterpiece, but I suspect that the preponderance of good reviews is beause those who switch off do not write reviews.
Compulsive viewing.......2008-01-13
I was absoultely knocked out by this film, the editing was incredible, the patchwork of what was happening, what had happened and what was going to happen kept the intensiveness of the film going from start to end. The activing was believable, hurray to all the actors, and the camera work magnificent. Thank you so much for making this film.
Great Movie.......2007-12-14
I saw this movie when it premiered in Portugal, and I have to say that this is one of the best movies I've seen. With three great actors, Sean Penn, to me one of the best actors of ou time. His performances are always at the top level, and I'm sorry that he only has one oscar. Naomi Watts, the grieving widow. And Benicio Del Toro...
Three lives linked by a tragedy...
Don't want to give more about the storyline, but if you like indepent movies, out of the mainstream... I recommend this film
Somewhat flawed but all together good........2007-12-14
In Alejandro González Iñárritu's debut feature 'Amores Perros', the flaw was that the three stories didn't play out concurrently. As a result the elements of the film you found most interesting weren't found throughout, the characters you were most invested with appeared and disappeared with plenty of story either side of them still to fill.
With '21 Grams' Alejandro González Iñárritu seems to be attempting to combat this by constantly cutting between the three stories, jumping back and forth through different points in the story. As a result we are already shown the ending of many of the stories plots before we've even been given the foundations. For example- When Sean Penn heads out to kill Benicio Del Toro, we are already well aware that he doesn't go through with it - because we've already seen what happens afterwards.
Despite this flaw however the camera work is great, the performances are some of the best of their best respective persons have ever committed, and the story, script and characters are all very believable and deep.
UK DVD:
- A.I. Artificial Intelligence [2001] - 2 disc set
- Almost Famous [2000]
- Amadeus -- Director's Cut 2-Disc Special Edition [1985]
- A Mighty Heart [2007]
- Amores Perros [2001]
- Angel-A [2005]
- Before Night Falls [2001]
- Before Sunrise / Before Sunset (2 Disc Box Set) [1995]
- Bloody Sunday [2002]
- Casanova [2005]
UK DVD List
UK DVD
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